France's parliament approves vote to hit stablecoin trades with 31% capital gains tax
- French lawmakers approved taxing crypto-to-stablecoin swaps at the 31.4% capital gains rate.
- Amendment I-3898 removes tax deferral for MiCA-compliant stablecoins starting January 2027.
- Critics warn the levy may push traders toward DeFi platforms and offshore exchanges.
French lawmakers narrowly approved a proposal to tax gains when investors swap cryptocurrency for stablecoins, bringing the transactions a step closer to falling under the country’s 31.4% capital gains levy.
The National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget on Oct. 16 by 38 votes to 37, with 25 abstentions. The vote advances a proposal previously approved by its finance committee.
The proposed changes would apply to transactions from Jan. 1, 2027. They remain subject to the budget’s remaining parliamentary stages and could still be amended or removed before becoming law.
Exchanges between crypto without an additional cash payment generally benefit from tax deferral under current French tax rules. Taxable gains on private investments face a default rate of 31.4%, although investors can opt for the progressive income-tax scale.
The amendment would remove that deferral when investors receive e-money tokens as defined by the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Investors could therefore owe tax on gains when moving into qualifying stablecoins, even without withdrawing the funds in fiat currency to a bank account.